SOUTH BEND, Ind. — DeShone Kizer put to rest Wednesday what’s been clear ever since the second half Sunday night in Austin: He’ll be Notre Dame’s No. 1 quarterback for Notre Dame’s home opener against Nevada and presumably beyond.
"I had a conversation with Coach (Brian) Kelly today and he decided that this week I was going to get the first snap for sure, and he kind of congratulated me on fighting through the process and encouraged me to maintain the same mindset and just ensure me that I would be the guy on Saturday,” Kizer said.
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Kizer completed 15 of 24 passes for 215 yards with five touchdowns and rushed 13 times for 77 yards and a score in Notre Dame’s 50-47 double overtime loss at Texas on Sunday. Zaire only accounted for 23 total yards (all passing) while he was in the game.
"As of now I’m expecting to be the only guy," Kizer said. "The conversation was just more to let me know I’ll be the guy."
Kelly declined to publicly ditch his dual-quarterback plan and name a No. 1 quarterback while speaking to the media both Monday and Tuesday, though noted he hadn’t yet met with either Kizer or Zaire when he was asked on both days.
“We’ll see how the game goes," Kizer said. "Obviously Malik is an amazing athlete and there’s going to come a time where you’re definitely going to see him on the field, I believe. That hasn’t really been talked about too much. All I know is that he told me to prepare to be the starter on Saturday and that’s what I plan to do.”